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Flood insurance changes to be outlined at meeting

Coastal Georgians are prepared for hurricanes this time of year.

A different kind of storm hits next week, though, and the surge promises to catch many unaware.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, begins phasing out subsidized flood insurance rates for non-primary residences and businesses on Tuesday. Thousands of Chatham County property owners will see their annual premiums climb by as much as 25 percent.

The changes will have an even more significant impact on those selling homes with subsidized policies as those discounts will be eliminated. The new owner would pay premiums at the unsubsidized, full-risk rate.

The issue prompted Tybee Island officials to schedule an information session for 6:30 p.m. tonight at Tybee City Hall. FEMA and Georgia Department of Natural Resources personnel will give a presentation on the changes, which are part of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act passed by Congress last year.

“It is very important that we all gain a greater understanding of the impacts of this new law on Tybee property owners,” Buelterman said.

Most Tybee properties are located in the highest risk flood areas, known as V zone. With few exceptions, Tybee non-primary residences with a first floor not built off the ground will see a significant increase.

Tybee homeowner Cindy Cupp hopes FEMA and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources can provide “explicit details on every aspect of how the primary homeowners will be affected by the new law.”

Many other parts of Chatham County are also located in high flood risk zones, and many homes built before the creation of the National Flood Insurance Program have long been eligible for subsidized policies.

The pending insurance rate increases have caused outcry nationally. The Biggert-Waters Act was passed in response to an NFIP shortfall that would grow to $24 billion following Hurricane Sandy.

The impact of the legislation, which was a late addition to a transportation bill, was poorly understood by many lawmakers, including one of its namesake sponsors, California congresswoman Maxine Waters.

Waters is calling for a review of the law, and a bill titled “Responsible Implementation of Flood Insurance Reform Act” has been introduced in the U.S. House and Senate. Several members of a Senate subcommittee on banking, housing and urban affairs last week urged FEMA Director Craig Fugate to delay the rate increases until an affordability report is completed.

FEMA was supposed to release the report in April.

Fugate, the FEMA director, told lawmakers he did not have the authority to postpone the law’s implementation.

“I have not found a way to delay without some additional legislative report,” Fugate told the Senate subcommittee. “There is no provision for affordability in this law.”

Homeowners are taking action as well. A New Jersey man, George Kasimos, has started a grassroots organization called “Stop FEMA Now.” The group plans to stage rallies Saturday protesting the rate increases in communities across the country.

“My home has a certain value today. When you raise that rate to $10,000 a year, my property value goes down significantly,” Kasimos told the trade publication Insurance Journal.”